The Rapture

FIVE

PEARL

I have to get out of here.

Need to get out. Now.

The sporadic clicking of the geiger counter overwhelmed my hearing. It was going off like the warning hiss of a snake about to strike. Leaving my colleagues behind, I pushed the past tall, thick grass, stumbling over unseen stones. No matter how far I left our camp, the noise followed.

Their screams were the only things that pierced the frenzied static.

My heart pounded so hard that I felt it in my teeth. My body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. The night sky above was clear and forever glittering, so normal amid things that weren't normal.

I yanked the straps of my backpack off my shoulders, tossing my notes and my work to the side. My life's work. But at the moment, I had bigger problems.

I tripped over something—maybe a rock, maybe a clump of wiry grass—and fell to the ground with an oomph.

I was too terrified to get back up, so I huddled into a ball.

The rapid ticking of the geiger counter slowed. My whole body shook. The screams were no longer present. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

I was reliving the night at the ranch, but this time, shit was going much further south.

"Stop running. You are safe."

My body became flooded with warmth, and I curled over onto my side at the sound of that familiar voice. It shook the ground like rumbling thunder, coming from nowhere, yet everywhere. A ragged cry broke through my lips as I clawed at the weeds, squeezing my eyes shut. My body was too weak to move, so all I did was tremble.

"Settle."

I obeyed the command, willing my limbs to relax. That velvet voice was like a harbor from the storm, even though the voice was the storm. I mentally clung to the richness of it, wanting to hear it again.

"Why save me?" I asked.

A hand touched mine, warm and firm, completely enveloping it. I uncurled myself and turned onto my back and gasped. A gloriously beautiful face, so achingly perfect that it hurt to look at, was inches from my own. A hard jawline. Full, curved lips. Glittering, purple eyes. More warmth spread from my toes to my crown, chasing away the fear.

My heartbeat slowed and I shivered.

So beautiful.

A metallic sphere appeared somewhere above his head.

A firm and lean body was then on me, gently pressing me into the grass, and suddenly, that was all I could think about. The heat. The tingles all over my skin. The smell of petrichor filling my nostrils, watering my mouth in anticipation. For what, I'm not sure.

I stared into his calming gaze, my eyelashes fluttering. White hair rustled gently in the breeze as the geiger counter became silent.

His lips turned up at the sides, almost like a smile. Did he hear my thoughts? Using a finger, he traced a path from the corner of my trembling lips to my collarbone that was slick with sweat. I fought the urge to reach out and touch him back, but for some reason, this being felt... holy. Too ethereal to touch.

So I kept my hands to myself.

His smile became solemn. "Our souls call to one another. Can you not hear them?"